Mischievous Lust
by Lucicelo
Summary: AU: They didn't know that their encounter under a giant cherry tree would rewrite both of their lives in the most prominent ways. Demon!Hiroki. Angel!Nowaki
1. The being under the tree

_A/N: I always pictured an actual Demon! Hiroki and Angel! Nowaki for the longest time, I wanted to write it out. Originally, I was going to add the other couples but I decided to just make it about them. Since this is an AU, some of the aspects of the legends won't be too accurate since this is my interpretation, just to be clear I have asked around for information, adding my own knowledge and this is the result. _

_A/N 2: I love this title, though it is a little misleading, they are not going to be screwing around every single chapter. Even with that piece of info, please stay with me until the very end! (Smile)_

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Mischievous Lust chapter 1: The being under the tree...

Hiroki dipped his hands into the creek and rubbed them together. The clear water of the river slowly turned crimson. Lingering for a moment until the current washed it away in a diluted stream. He inspected them, a good portion left his hands but the residue of centuries of slaughter was painted on his fingers.

He learned at a young age that he was never completely safe. His guard was never down, his instincts always located a wayward demon miles from him or even closer to him. It was all about asserting dominance and strength. The unfortunate weak ones would either die painfully or be jeered for all eternity for being an inadequate fighter.

Unless the demon defeated someone, they would regain their broken honor and pride. Their honor would be higher when it was the original demon that defeated them. In the end, nobody cared for technicalities; they desired an action packed rumble where one of both fighters died.

It got boring after torturing what seemed to be an endless supply of human souls. They were weak and powerless when alive. In death, they were placed in plain sight for the dark creatures' enjoyment. The souls were basically practice dummies for the young children, the older ones tested their skills on them before challenging another.

It was mostly the ones that managed surviving after so many years. No life was guaranteed for long periods of time.

Hiroki used one of his hands to push back his hair. His fingers bumped into the horns that protruded out of his cranium. His amber eyes were hidden under his eyelids, a black hue surrounded them which flared out in the corners. His light brown hair stuck up in layers which failed in hiding his elfin-like ears. He wore a black tank top and dark tight pants that clung to his body but was still comfortable. His boots flattened the grass underneath him while his tail curled over his right leg.

He cupped his hands together and gathered some water to drink. Hiroki opened his eyes as he stared at them. He inspected if he managed on cleaning the blood from his hands. No matter how many times he killed, he hated the smell lingering on him. He had enough of that down in hell; he lacked the desire for it on Earth.

Hiroki gulped down the water, and then he shook his hands to get rid of the excess. His blackened nails were cleaned enough so Hiroki was satisfied on their state.

Staring up at the sun's location, he guessed it was about mid-day.

At that time, humans would be wandering around the forest, foraging for food. Hiroki couldn't sense any of them around. Hiroki assumed that the surge of disease was the cause. A large shipment of souls had arrived, overcrowding the initial purgatory layer and the older souls went rueful because of it.

He was in dire need of a break away from all of the chaos. On Earth, the peace was short-lived at times but Hiroki knew that the forests were calmer than human inhabited areas. Legends surfaced constantly about evil spirits overtaking people so no one wandered around alone. The fear took over their logical sense, superstitions were fact whether it made no sense or not.

This astounded him, Hiroki had faced scarier beings and he had managed on disabling or killing them. He was a high end demon; he would be a laughingstock if he was injured by weaklings. His closest friends, well allies he had, were held up to high standard. Of course he worked harder to be as powerful as them; he sometimes surprised them on several occasions. He took pride in being viewed as ferocious demon, which was a compliment among their kind.

It was better to be well-known than to be labeled a loser.

Hiroki stood up from his crouching position and rubbed his hands on his shirt. One of his dark claw nails got caught in his shirt he growled and pulled it out. His nails were useful in battle yet they got stuck on one random piece of string.

A twig snapped out of nowhere, it broke the serene atmosphere. Hiroki's senses rose as his hands glowed a purple color and he turned around. He scouted the surrounding area, a bush on his right started shuffling. Gathering energy, he blasted the foliage and a terrified deer ran off in an opposite direction. He arched a brow; he managed on mistaking an animal for something dangerous.

He swore under his breath for his mistake. His senses were overloaded from keeping his guard up that he was mentally exhausted. Any large animal could sneak an attack at any moment from a long distance and he wouldn't have a head start. He had to pay closer attention and used his sharp hearing than lower his powers.

He was sleepy, he had to admit.

Hiroki rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand then pinched himself. Perked up by the pain, he scoured around the forest. His stomach growled, he was craving human souls. Endless amounts of human souls wandered the Earth; they were easy pickings, no trouble at all.

As of late, he began eating human food. Many of them were horrid and disgusting, one stuck out to him which was watermelon. He had traveled through the many doors into hell and found many undisturbed watermelon patches. Those tasted the sweetest and he sat for hours at a time eating them. The fruit was a great compliment during the summer months or even as he sat in his room at his house.

Hiroki followed the streams current toward a larger body of water. The vegetation grew more prominent near the river banks. They were mostly berries and Hiroki wanted to try some. He spat out any horrible human food. He had not found a food that could possibly kill a demon. Emphasis on yet.

He heard the usual bird chirping in random sections of the trees. None acted up due to his upcoming presence. He posed no threat and he wouldn't disrupt the calmness of the forest for cheap entertainment.

A distinctive noise reached his ears, it was humming.

So low that human hearing wouldn't have heard it from the distance. Underneath nature's song, the underlying tones were happiness and content. Hiroki's curiosity peaked. He pinpointed the location which was overhead toward the lake he was headed to. The humming went lower each passing second.

At the clearing, thought that the light was becoming too luminous for his liking. His eyes began watering but he kept going on forward.

* * *

Nowaki relaxed his hand as a bird perched itself on top of his palm. He smiled gently as he petted the bird's head with his right index finger. He lay back against the cherry blossom tree and made himself comfortable in between two thick roots from the tree. The flowers were in full bloom, the pink hues scattered in small individual flowers whose petals fell onto the ground when the wind hit them.

On the way down, they went through Nowaki's transparent halo. They traveled down and intertwined in his dark locks. He loved the aroma from the flowers that bloomed all around him as well as the crisp scent of the morning mist dissipating into thin air. The colors were scattered everywhere he stared and brought everything to life.

He crossed his legs over each other as his toes were tickled by the grass. The bird flew out of his hand when he pushed his hand up without force. It settled on a small branch that wasn't far from Nowaki.

Nowaki fixed his white toga low enough to cover him mid-thigh, it rode up when he sat down earlier. His sandal strings were tied together and lay right next to him in a small patch of yellow flowers. He removed the golden cuffs from his upper arm; they were pretty but slowed down the blood flow to his arm ever since he had another growth spurt. He kept growing taller and he needed new clothes whenever it happened.

He chose keeping the current ones he had, sure they were short but no one complained when they saw him. There was no embarrassment if he showed some skin; the body was a beautiful thing. There was nothing to be ashamed about.

Though it was preferable to be clothed, many angels walked around in the nude. Before clothing was made to cover the body, they wouldn't worry about being exposed to anyone. Fashions went in and out, one moment everyone was all covered up, the next, they would be wearing almost nothing.

Nowaki wore his toga long enough so that his loincloth wasn't shown. This was along the spring and summer months when the weather wasn't harsh. In winter and fall, he wore very long robes or togas that reached down to his feet.

His weapon was a sword he took for safety measures, his hands were healing tools but he could reverse the effects to damage someone.

Nowaki closed his cobalt blue eyes and hummed a happy song. The time was perfect for it and the young trainees were being entertained by newly appointed angel Misaki Takahashi. How Misaki treated the children was similar to how Nowaki cared for them. They loved the young man and Nowaki took the chance for his newfound adventures down on Earth.

Misaki's older brother, Takahiro, had mentored the young one and found him suitable to become an angel. The higher superiors agreed with him and Nowaki smiled when Misaki was touching his pristine white wings with his fingers in excitement.

Every appointed angel went through the gleeful phase in the first few hours when they got their wings. Now they were able to fly beyond the clouds in the sky that they walked on.

Before the avian wings, they had a miniature version that barely lifted them up from the ground. It stamped them as angel trainees and was under the wing of the mentors who picked them when they were younger.

Memories of how he attained his wings filled his mind. His mentors were the Kusama's, Yuki and Ichirou; they were the ones that took care of the newborn angels in the heaven's sector of Japan. Before Nowaki got his wings, he helped them up until the point when they told him that his abilities were meant for something more than guarding.

Their prediction came true when the heavenly glow surrounded Nowaki's hands and the elders accessed that he had healing powers. He would be one of the many angels that went down to Earth to heal the sick but they disguised themselves as healers or doctors. They were taught to limit their powers; they had to understand that not every human would survive the many diseases that circled around them.

It was their call who lived and died. The more they healed, the faster their juice would run out. Every angel was different in their limits and knew exceeding them had consequences if they were young enough.

Nowaki usually saved children's lives, he would rather have them experience life since cutting it short so young was cruel to him. He even visited them a few times in their youth before they saw the inconsistencies on his age. Usually in the disguise of a wandering man depending on the style of clothing in the era the humans were in.

They were comfortable around him and he often got children that could see the halo over his head that he hid. Children saw many things that their parents brushed aside as their imagination. This ability faltered as they grew older.

Which Nowaki knew happened, they were taught that everything they thought was true was now fake. It couldn't be helped so Nowaki went onto wandering into new people to cure.

He frequently saw angels he knew guarding the humans they were assigned to. The interactions the human's made were partial on the guardian angel's preference. There were some angels that they didn't like so the humans would never talk to each other. But they were meant to lead them in the right direction, possessing them wasn't in the job description.

Nowaki heard of angels being lead off into darkness, the transformation was different for each one. One thing was common in all of them, the obvious lack of a halo and the wings turning dark grey or the feathers fell off. The stories never mentioned what was the reason yet he assumed it had to be the worst.

His humming was consistent in the tone. He switched to another one and the lyrics came into his mind. More birds flew to that tree and their natural chirping complimented the song as Nowaki swayed side by side.

The humming slowed down as Nowaki knew he was falling asleep. He didn't mind snoozing some of the day away, either he would wake up or maybe a cute forest animal would nudge him. His defenses went down as he tried getting sleep but trying to get to sleep wasn't simple. Nowaki's mind still thought of many things which kept him awake, he settled on hearing his surroundings.

* * *

Hiroki passed through and made it to the hidden lake. Hiroki saw how untouched the nature was at this lake. That meant no humans had encountered this place, there was a mystifying aura that surrounded the area. It reached a good mile in each direction of the lake, which was large and vast, connected to a waterfall that came down the side of a mountain. There were many mountains that connected onto the one with the waterfall.

Blackberry bushes took over a good portion of the lake as Hiroki made a mental note that he would eat them later. Gather a handful before he left back home and made his judgment on them. There were no watermelon bundles from what he could tell.

He felt as if he could lounge around whenever he wanted and this was a distance away from one of hell's gates. No demon would find him here when it was assumed he was constantly blasting down souls and fighting others to be in such a peaceful place.

It was a guarded place besides his home that he could enjoy.

Squirrels ran past him into the trees, a mother deer and her foal drank the water from the lake, a lot of animals were scurrying away from him. A few braved it out and sniffed him before going on their own business. Hiroki didn't mind animals being in proximity of him through he'd rather be alone.

In his vision, he saw a giant tree that stood out from the rest of the trees behind it. It was close to the water but didn't seem like it would collapse because of the water softening the soil. The tree was firmly rooted to the ground, flower petals were in piles around the tree.

"Wow." Hiroki said as he walked closer to it and touched the bark of the tree. "I usually see thin blossom trees when I wander around here. It must be very old or something..." He looked up and the tree stretched out creating an umbrella effect.

The petals fell down onto him as he brushed them away, he stared in amazement. "Well I found my designated spot; anyone else that comes here cannot take my place."

His ears picked up light breathing coming from the other side of the tree. He wasn't about to let some animal take his place even if he made the decision not too long ago.

Hiroki stalked to the other side, ready to strike and saw Nowaki sleeping peacefully against the tree. He didn't expect a person to be in the furthest part of the forest for a nap, not that he hadn't seen this in his travels. Life's pressures sure got to a person and they needed their own space.

Hiroki crouched down and inspected Nowaki, thinking he was a human the whole time. That was until he saw the halo on top of his head and an outline of wings on his back. The pure white aura surrounded Nowaki's entire body, had Hiroki not investigated Nowaki right then he wouldn't have known.

His eyebrows furrowed as he stared at his face and scoffed. "This guy must either be brave to sleep outside of heaven or he is a moron."

Nowaki kept snoozing away as Hiroki poked him in the face. He knew his nails were sharp but he didn't out enough pressure for a cut. Hiroki rolled his eyes at the lack of response against him; he already concluded that this angel was not worth his time. He had to be weak not to have gotten the sense of darkness coming out of him.

Any certified angel had this ability.

Nowaki probably didn't have it and Hiroki knew that instigating a fight with this guy won't make him look good. No one would know but his pride would be hurt that the basis on his win was because his opponent was weak.

Hiroki stood up and a small bag in his pocket fell toward the ground. An amber colored jewel that was identical to the one on his weapon that he left at home was inside.

He gave Nowaki another stare down as he mumbled. "Well...you are sort of handsome…don't get killed angel boy..."

Hiroki walked away from the large tree, he maneuvered swiftly through the lake and into the pathway he first came from. He forgot about the lack of weight in his pocket as he ventured on forward.

Nowaki opened an eye and stared at his retreating form in amusement. He was awake the whole time and wasn't afraid that he would hurt him; his curiosity overruled anything else he might have felt. His mentors always said that a demon never got near an angel unless it was to kill one.

Hiroki didn't do that to him; in fact he complimented him and moved on. Though he was supposed to be asleep the whole time, Nowaki had a feeling that if he was awake Hiroki wouldn't have opened his mouth.

When Hiroki wasn't in sight Nowaki moved his limbs around and stretched them out.

Nowaki smiled as he touched the place on his cheek where Hiroki touched. "At least I found one nice demon in my existence...hopefully there are more like him." He sighed. "But I didn't get his name...how am I supposed to meet him again without knowing that?"

He pouted as he interlaced his fingers and placed them behind his head. "I want to know what the rest of him looks like...just saying his butt is adorable isn't a good thing is it? He looked all over me to make his compliment...I should stop talking, I'm over thinking again..."

His foot brushed against cloth as Nowaki picked it up with his foot. His toe went through the strings holding it closed, he pushed back his foot and launched it to his body. He caught it with his right hand and he loosened the strings. He peeked inside and saw an almost orange brown looking jewel inside.

Nowaki clenched it in his hands as he said in excitement. "This is demon-san's bag...I'll protect it until he comes back. Though it is irresponsible of him to carry something valuable in his pockets." He stared at it in wonder. "It is pretty...maybe he's planning to make a ring out of this, it's a little too big for that so maybe not. I'll come back tomorrow early so I can hand it to him face to face then I'll ask for his name then."


	2. An interesting reencounter

_A/N: Thank you all so much so your support! I am happy by the favorites and alerts this story has generated and I know that I have to step it up and get it to be awesome. I will have more time now that summer is around the corner and all I have to worry about is not being bored in the summer. So expect more sporadic updates on random days in the next couple of months. (Smile)_

_A/N 2: If there are mistakes in any of my chapters, just tell me and I'll quickly fix it whenever I can. It's only after I look it over again when I post the chapter that I find something wrong with it and I either write something in or correct spelling errors. _

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Mischievous Lust chapter 2: An interesting re-encounter...

Nowaki checked the side of his belt and made sure Hiroki's bag was in place. His wings flapped behind him as he stopped in place and tugged it. He had been fearful that he might have tied it too loose and fell down on his journey toward the lake. Losing the bag meant he had no conversation starter when he saw Hiroki again. That was _if _he managed on finding Hiroki at the lake at the same location where they first met.

He almost doubted Hiroki would even be there. For the past week he was sent down South of Japan where an influx of the disease was overtaking the local villages. When he arrived, the atmosphere was ghastly as he witnessed the fragile forms of the people lying about. There were many people immune to the disease that either carried in the sick or buried the deceased. Nowaki disguised himself, his healing powers poured into the medicine he made on the spot. Not all of them reacted well to his concoction but saw improvement in the younger generation that recovered. It was a slow an arduous process for them and at the end of the week Nowaki was called back.

The whole time, Nowaki had the bag on his person. Even when he was up in heaven he managed to keep it hidden from others. He was almost caught when a trainee noticed him staring inside of his robes. Nowaki dismissed her worried questions as he diverted them with stories of his adventures through his assignments. He answered many of their questions. There were some healing angels that chipped in their own experiences, their excitable stories instantly won over the trainees' attention.

Nowaki didn't mind, he rather enjoyed listening to other people when they talked. They were older in age and experience, Nowaki learned many things about his job from them. These were things that he wouldn't have known or figured out on his own. The wisdom he absorbed was put into his actions down on Earth. The way he handled the humans was much more efficient for their benefit.

He thought about their welfare more than he should, he was told to never get _too _close. Whether he extended their lives or not, their lives were shorter than his. They would be hurt in the end if familiarity was established.

Nowaki figured that Hiroki had to be somewhat powerful to have survived for so long. The matter that Hiroki behaved and talked was refreshing. The shielded paradise of heaven was dull and boring after such a long existence. This was why Nowaki started his expeditions that were non-work related. Running into Hiroki last week left a lasting impact on him. It wasn't because Hiroki was one of the first demons he had encountered but the difference in worlds interested him.

An angel had to be selfless and not have desired that distracted them from their purpose. Though they haven't spoken directly to each other since he was sleeping at the time, he was spellbound. He knew revealing this development to his superiors would be frowned upon. The fear implanted in the angels through their mentorship about demons would have him tailed around until the demon in question was exterminated. For such peaceful beings, Nowaki thought it was hypocritical to take such violent measures on anyone else.

Nowaki had seen judgment hearings, they were unbearable to watch. The punishments that dealt with the rule breakers scared him and pitied the ones to be judged. It was unfair yet he couldn't intervene no matter how much he wanted to. His mentors were the ones that explained that the ones who broke the rules deserved their punishment. He shouldn't feel sorry for them was what they said, Nowaki thought this was wrong. It was like turning his back on someone that might not have done something wrong.

A few cases he heard of were unfair judgments that had angels disgraced and stuck on Earth to live out their seclusion. He witnessed a few as their halos disappeared, their wings turned a dark grey and their pure auras dispersed.

He wanted to take a risk; Nowaki was already getting away with his non-scheduled visits to Earth. There were millions of angels flying around that he went under the radar and wasn't counted as suspicious. Unless he slipped and told someone then he was safe from persecution.

It would work for him or against him by going to the same place alone. That one day might have been Hiroki's time of civility and was now a different demon, the amicable demon would be gone. He would be facing a demon that wanted no more than to get rid of him. There were countless demons that hated angels and would love nothing more than to mount their wings on a wall.

Nowaki dismissed those ideas before they got any worse as he landed on the ground. He recognized his surroundings perfectly. The giant lake surrounded by so much vegetation, the small waterfall that produced small rainbows and the cherry blossom tree he slept on. He noticed a large knapsack near the tree; the contents were tossed around as if someone was looking for something.

He went closer as he identified a variety of everyday objects that exuded dark magic. In heaven, they were shown examples when the natural purifiers presented them. One touch from their hands and any dark object would be striped of the tainted magic.

The objects clashed harshly with the atmosphere of the lake. Any magical creature would have seen these and not touched them in fear of being possessed.

"Who do these things belong to? It's as if no one wanted these anymore...such a shame, I can tell they are in great shape." He bent down and picked up a knife that scorched his hand, he dropped it on the ground as he yelped. "Ouch!" A nasty burn formed on the side of his left hand, he gathered power on his right hand and waved it over the injury.

The bruise on his hand left little by little as Nowaki sighed. "I should have known... dark items harm me until they are purified. Or I took my time to purify them myself...it is going to take a while though." He stared at the dagger; parts of it were stained with blood. "Ah...it was used to kill someone...poor person." Nowaki placed both hands over it and released a burst of pure energy.

* * *

Hiroki was pissed off. More than pissed off, he was livid. He lost a jewel that he found in his youth and he was sure his father would kick his ass over this. It was required for every high royal demon and Satan's children to enter the hottest part of hell for their mating jewel. The whole point was passing by every horrid thing possible, fight the worst monsters imaginable and maybe even locate the bundles of the crystals.

The expedition was long and harsh for every demon. It would be a miracle if any one of them came back with minor injuries. Many lost limbs for the purpose of finding one; it was a pride factor in taking such a dangerous task. Coming back alive was a sign of luck and showed their strength. Women often took the task as well and were smarter than the muscle bound demons as they came back with handfuls of jewels.

Also it was even better if demons got them as children, in fact it was encouraged. Hiroki had to go through the inner caves when he looked 10 in human years. Akihiko accompanied him, his confidence bounced through his silent nature that was now discarded in his adult years. He was more confident and flaunted his power to the lower level demons, not even caring of the future results.

When Hiroki first found the crystals, it was clear without color but when he held them, the color transformed into his eye color. He embedded them into his weaponry and the last few were for mating purposes. Demons were told to get more for the reason that they might want to have a polyandrous relationship with multiple demons.

Hiroki had recently started carrying the biggest one he had, the best one to present to other demons that were in his same class. There had been thievery going around the high royal demon homes, the suspects were the low level demons that were envious of their power and status. It was proven when a few were caught trying to rob the Usami residence and Akihiko Usami killed them because it was him that was targeted.

The Usami's grew more feared since Hiroki knew that Haruhiko was much more ruthless than Akihiko. Adding Akihiko's uncaring attitude toward killing, then the other demons weren't taking a chance at angering anyone in the family.

His father explained to him that this was a gift that shouldn't be given unless he was absolutely sure of his feelings. Handing one over was like handing over the heart to the other person they selected. Hiroki was surprised that his father would take time to explain the meaning of the crystals. After his mother was mentioned, then he understood. Hiroki never met his mother but he saw that his father truly loved her but unspoken reasons broke them apart.

He was told she was kind, something he found odd for a demon. Everyone he had met were selfish and didn't bat an eye to be evil, it was inside of their programming to not be _too _kind. It was a sign of weakness to them.

His mind went to the angel that he met last week. Hiroki could tell that he was a nice person just by looking at him. Take off the angel wings and halo, Nowaki would still remain the same without the title of being an angel. He didn't know what Nowaki's position was; he crossed one thing from his list which was a guardian angel. Those stuck by their humans until they died, Nowaki was wandering around by himself.

Nowaki's tall stature was something he remembered, his long limbs seemed to have stretched for miles. His dark locks with hints of blue to it when the sun peeked through the flowers and made them pop. Another aspect of this angel Hiroki recalled was the serenity and beauty of his face as he slept; there was no tenseness as he let his guard completely down to the world. In other words this angel was utterly defenseless but the lake obscured him from view, unless someone walked through one of the many pathways and located him.

The image of Nowaki's face kept popping into his mind as he searched for his jewel. Hiroki's lips quirked into a small smile but he pinched himself for letting himself smile. Smiling wasn't allowed, a mischievous smirk was seen in better perspective to his tough persona.

He found the same pathway as before and wondered where exactly he could have lost it. Hiroki's first few days without it he looked through his home and anywhere he thought he dropped it. Then he searched around the pathways he had taken and then he remembered he was on Earth. The lake appeared in his mind, thinking that it fell out of his pocket and onto the grass. He would find it and go back into hell, not that much of a problem.

Hiroki pushed the branches of the trees out of the way as his eyes were searching the ground. All he found were the flowers from last week, untouched by the animals that went by there. The red pouch wouldn't appear as Hiroki got frustrated with himself. He hated losing anything, even the human literature was kept in a giant chest inside of his room.

He thought that he might have left the bag in his knapsack again as he set it on the ground. He crouched down and opened the bag while taking out everything from the inside. He threw everything around and didn't care where they landed as he searched every crevice of the bag. The thin line of his lips went down to a frown, if it wasn't in this bag, his house, the trail up to Earth and the lake then he truly lost it.

His hands formed into fists, his sharp nails dug into his hands. "Damn it...I should've listened to father and kept it in the safe with the others."

Hiroki stood up as he yelled out loud and the anger was released out of him. Some fire that burst out of his mouth but nothing went on fire. He stopped screaming as he kicked a random mirror that he tossed onto the ground from before and he fiddled with the sash holding his sword. A blacksmith made sure that his amber jewel was stuck into the handle of his blade. No matter how many battles he went into, it wouldn't loosen.

That was great news to him since he went through so much trouble to have it get lost. Like the biggest one that he carried and now felt so stupid for doing that.

"It doesn't matter...I have other ones in my safe back home." Hiroki muttered as he looked around the lake. "It's not the size that counts anyway...but even Akihiko was jealous that I had it. The one thing I had over him when I wasn't fighting other morons."

He sighed as he went over to a random blackberry bush and picked a few of them. It was better distracting himself from his failure for a moment than to put himself down. He watered them a little bit before popping them into his mouth; his teeth crunched them as he tasted the tart juice on his tongue. Hiroki found that the actually liked this taste, but it wasn't as great as the watermelon he tried a while back.

Grabbing a few more, he began eating them as he walked back to his things and he shivered. A pure energy was wandering to his direction and he threw the berries out of his hands. He hustled behind a tree, forgetting his possessions were out in the open.

From behind, Hiroki saw an angel walking to his things and checked them out. The person picked one his daggers up and yelled when he got burned. Hiroki chuckled softly at the idiot in front of him and then he saw the angel place out his hand. Pure energy went down as Hiroki saw the dark aura going away.

He readied himself as he ran toward the angel, ready for a fight.

* * *

Out of nowhere, Hiroki pounced from the shadows and knocked Nowaki out of the way. His hands glow a majestic purple hue as he wrestled Nowaki onto the ground. In the process, Nowaki was broken of his concentration and parts of his arms burned from the dark energy of Hiroki's hands. He gritted his teeth as he slammed his fists onto Hiroki's neck. This distracted him long enough that Nowaki kicked him away.

The demon landed on the grass but recovered his composure. A smirk graced his face; it had been a while since he had an angel give him such an unexpected battle. The excitement of defeating an angel fueled him hit but also the danger of being with pure energy drove his adrenaline. His eyes glowed purple as he targeted Nowaki in his sights, he couldn't make Nowaki out since he kept moving his face around.

Nowaki ran his hands over the burn marks; they went away easily as he kept his eyes on Hiroki. He saw Hiroki run to his direction as he stopped healing anymore skin and unsheathed his sword. His eyes couldn't make out the demon but a glowing hand slashed in front of him, part of his toga deteriorated in front of him.

He swung his sword and smirked when the demon jumped out of the way. His sword gave a heavenly glow as he ran toward his enemy. He only wanted to injure the demon; he didn't want to kill him by all means.

Hiroki blasted Nowaki with purple fire balls and saw that a few barely missed Nowaki by a few inches. The angel dodged them from really hitting him as patches of grass caught on fire. Nowaki used his wings to move around, he had not restricted them like he usually did and this was becoming his advantage. Sure his long limbs provided for faster movement but wings were much quicker.

Noticing that the angel was faster than expected, Hiroki unsheathed his own sword. He mentally shifted the purple glow to the blade of the sword, turning it purple. The amber jewel was located on the handle, it glimmered under the sun.

Nowaki saw the familiar tint in the jewel and actually stared at the demon. The demon he was looking for was running to him with intent to kill.

"W-Wait stop!" Nowaki exclaimed as he gripped the bag tied to his side.

"Fuck no." They clashed swords and Hiroki managed on disarming Nowaki, his sword landed a few feet away.

Nowaki blanched, he thought his idle suspicions were getting made into reality. Hiroki's instance of mercy by not hurting him was gone. He was disarmed and he couldn't use his purification option of his powers on this demon. When purification started, it was hard to stop in the middle, they finished the job. By his level of power, it would take him minutes to develop enough power and he had to disable Hiroki to buy time.

His eyes widened as Hiroki pinned him to the tree with his left hand on his chest. The pressure was so tremendous and his lungs were in pain. Hiroki slammed his sword right next to his neck, a small cut was formed. He stared down at Hiroki who in turn gawked up at him in shock; his eyes went back to their original state. He finally was realizing who this angel was.

Both of them stayed quiet as the pressure on Nowaki's chest was off and Hiroki's hand went back to his side. Seconds later, the demon yanked out the blade which was rooted into the tree bark and cut Nowaki's neck. Hiroki wiped the blade onto the grass before sheathing it.

Nowaki relaxed as he rubbed his neck and he felt the blood coating his skin. He put pressure on the shallow cut his healing fingers glided on his skin.

Hiroki turned around and walked away from Nowaki. Battle adrenaline still coursed through him and was amazed that Nowaki was actually pretty good. His assumption that the sleeping angel was a weakling was false.

He heard Nowaki shuffling cloth as Hiroki glanced over his shoulder. Nowaki was untying the strings from his belt; his whole reason of coming was to give it back. Nowaki held the bag in his hands.

Nowaki walked to Hiroki and deposited the pouch into his hands. He was still shaken from before but he managed on presenting a sincere smile.

He said. "I found this when I woke up the other day. I saw you leaving without it and I came back to return it." Hiroki stared at Nowaki's quivering hands, he was silent. "This jewel has to be really important. The fabric of this bag is soft yet there are fire resistant fibers sewn in."

"You're shaking." Hiroki bluntly stated.

Nowaki rose up his hands and they were indeed shivering.

Hiroki stared into Nowaki's eyes as he explained. "Look I didn't mean to attack you. I don't go into rampages like some lower class morons I know; I won't kill you like some barbarian. Consider yourself lucky that I am being..._nice_."

Nowaki chuckled at how understanding Hiroki was being, his trembling hands ceased. His Demon-san was a very interesting demon indeed.

Hiroki stared up at Nowaki's face in interest. Sure he remembered the undisturbed face but the laughter transformed those handsome features into a whole new level. Hiroki liked this smile. It wasn't pretentious or phony, it was natural. Natural kindness was what Hiroki felt out of Nowaki.

Nowaki just returned what he thought was nowhere to be found. He was ecstatic on the inside but he showed none of that outside. At least he didn't have to return to the catacombs of hell and get another decent sized one.

Hiroki's silence worried Nowaki as he asked. "Are you alright Demon-san?"

Hiroki growled. "My name isn't Demon-san."

"Then what is your name then Demon-san?"

The demon chose to pay no attention to what Nowaki just called him as he stated. "I'm Hiroki Kamijou." His neck was numb from staring up at Nowaki for so long, he asked. "Who are you?"

Nowaki answered politely as he bowed. "Nowaki Kusama."

A gust of wind broke more petals from the tree and they fell on both of them.

Nowaki couldn't help it, he laughed when he saw the annoyed expression on Hiroki's face. A pile of petals were gathered on top of his head, some of them got stuck through his hair.

"Shut it." Hiroki shook his head and the pink petals fell onto the ground. "This isn't funny." Nowaki kept on laughing despite the purple glow gathering in his eyes. "I should've let you stay afraid of me when I had the chance...wait; I can still do that right now."

Nowaki's laughter went down but he kept his smile. "I was shocked not scared Kamijou-san. There is a difference between the two." He pointed to the bag as he suggested. "So you don't lose your bag why don't you tie it to your pants? This way you can look down and there it is! I did this when I was keeping your bag for you; I never lost it on my way down."

Hiroki glared at him. "Who are you to tell me what to do angel boy?"

"I'm just telling this to you because it is a simple solution to never losing it when you are on the go. Putting it inside of a pocket isn't a good idea; anything falls out of those things."

"I don't care what you think. If it falls out again then I will know it fell because I am paying attention."

Nowaki shook his head in amusement. "You never know."

"Whatever," Nowaki opened his mouth to say something but refrained from doing it. Hiroki noticed this when he asked. "Did you want to say something?"

"Well...I was hoping...if you want," Nowaki blurted out. "We can be friends?"

Hiroki was shocked at this bold declaration as Nowaki waited on his answer. The demon slowly recovered as he hit Nowaki on the shoulder. "Are you hearing what you are saying? Me? Your friend?"

Nowaki nodded his head as he ignored the stinging on his shoulder. He knew the demon was trying to get rid of him but it wouldn't work on him.

"Yes. I want to know more about you. When two people meet it goes in two directions, they never talk to each other again or engage in more conversations. I want to talk with you in any possible chance I can." His head tilted up at the tree, he gazed at the petals' beauty. "Who we are shouldn't restrict us from getting to know each other right?"

"You have a point there." Nowaki smiled as Hiroki continued. "Since we only know each other here, then we will meet here from now on. It's not like you can visit me in my home and I go into yours...that is if you still want to."

Nowaki was elated he was going to see Hiroki again. "Sure! We can meet here under this tree but with our unpredictable schedules..."

"It doesn't matter...we have centuries to live out," Hiroki told Nowaki as he tied the strings of his bag onto the hoops of his pants. He mumbled out. "Are you alright...I didn't hurt you too bad?"

"I healed myself pretty quickly Kamijou-san don't you worry. I'm a healing angel by trade so I don't get hurt as much."

Hiroki glanced up at Nowaki. "I should have known. I shouldn't have worried." He mumbled the last part as he went to pick up his possessions from the ground.

Nowaki caught on what he said as he followed behind. "You were worried? Thank you for worrying about me Kamijou-san."

Hiroki ignored the praises that came out of Nowaki as he tossed his things inside of his bag. He should have denied the request for friendship when he had the chance.


End file.
